Red Canopy
by Mechalich
Summary: Unstable following Hayate's death Uzuki Yuugao is sent to Hidden Rain. There she becomes involved in a brutal and deadly struggle that will imperil all ninja. To prevail she must learn to be as a Rain ninja, but what will it cost her and what will she gai
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – Unstable Control**

"Well…on the outside it looks like a good deal, but somehow I just don't trust it," the voice was snappish, sly, and failed to hide the suspicion completely.

"Why do you suspect us so?" the answer was quick, perhaps a moment too quick in this dim hall of flickering candles. "It's not like we won't benefit as well; in fact, you could easily say we're the ones getting the better of it here."

"Exactly why I don't trust it, this is all too smooth," the slant-eyed syndicate man thrust his face forward toward the pair. "Smooth isn't something you trust in this business."

This level of suspicion was a problem; the ninja needed the deal to go down as planned. They needed the man to take the package, to examine it on his own, away from the eyes of all the dozen or so thugs skulking about the hideaway now. That way, when they blew the four explosion notes inside the briefcase he'd be the only one to perish.

Yuugao kept her face carefully composed and maintained her silence. She was not to speak here, was simply standing in as a trophy symbol for her companion; a girl bought and owned body and soul to help complete the transformation of an ANBU member into a low-life distributor of illegal goods smuggled out of Konoha. It was not a role she relished, but it was necessary for this deception, to trick this cunning syndicate manager into trusting them just enough that he would receive a suitable punishment for pushing local smuggling enterprises just one step too far over the line. She despised the man before her, all his kind, and awaited impatiently the moment when they could destroy him and leave this blasted place.

"I would think you'd be more suspicious if things were improperly worked out," Yuugao's fellow ninja replied.

"Maybe," the syndicate man shrugged. "Maybe not. I really wonder how much you care about this. You don't seem to want it bad enough…it makes a man hesitant when there's not enough greed you see." He spread his hands wide to encompass the various thugs lounging about. "Greed is something I can trust you know, this whole world revolves around it, and you can always understand it as a motive. You should be salivating from your greed, but I'm not sure you are…"

Yuugao felt a spike of irritation sweep through her, not easily kept from her expression. This man had just enough cunning to be a nuisance, to stretch things out and make them longer and harder increase the chances of a mistake, to create difficulty where there should be simplicity.

"And what, exactly," the ninja speculated back. "Would prove my greed to you?"

Something about that line struck Yuugao as the wrong move, ceding the initiative to the syndicate man, allowing him more control than he should possess over the moment. After all, he truly was salivating over the proposed over, they needed to keep him off balance. Nevertheless, Yuugao could say nothing against it, she was held silent in the moment.

"Hmm…I wonder," the syndicate man stepped back slowly. He twitched his fingers together and stared off into one of the many flickering candles flames. Then suddenly his eyes, narrowed to slits, darted back to stare blatantly at Yuugao. "A pretty thing this one," he gestured casually, sloppily. "Exotic and fine I must say. Cost a fair bit I gather. A fair bit indeed." He mimed calculating by shaking his head slightly. "Nothing on this deal though, nothing at all. Prove your greed was it? Yes, I like that, proof of greed." There was a long, slow pause as the syndicate man moved slowly toward the pair again. "How about this: kill the girl right here and I'll pay ten percent more."

Something dark, hard, and hot took hold of Yuugao's senses.

"What?" the ninja replied in foolishly honest shock.

"Come, it's not like she's someone worth mourning over," the syndicate man laughed with terrible cruelty. "And if you actually care for someone like that, you're just as forgettable."

In an instant, a long and terrible instant without end, the scenery of the present disappeared, and Yuugao saw only saw something else. A red and ravaged image, slashed and scourged and yet instantly recognizable. _Forgettable? Forgettable! No!_

Whiplash quick Yuugao burst into motion. Her right leg shot forward, twisted, wrapped, and pulled, dropping the syndicate man down, bringing him toward her. Her hands slashed forward at the same time, chakra raging down her limbs. She grabbed both sides of the skull and with that enhanced strength and a burning, all-consuming rage flexed her muscles and snapped the head to the side.

A sickening crack could be heard as bones moved in ways they were never meant to move, and a life was snuffed out.

"Hells!" Yuugao's ANBU companion spat, and then his sword, the simple short blade he'd worn as part of his disguise, was in his hand. The man reassessed the situation rapidly. "Can't leave witnesses!" he proclaimed, and advanced with a terrifying grim expression.

The poor thugs, completely blindsided by what had happened, took a moment to react, but then charged, brandishing their jumbled assortment of blades clubs, and spears.

Yuugao fell back on her training and instinct. Moving like a blur she slashed in and struck a man under the jaw with her left hand, dropping him to the floor and easily taking his short blade into her right.

Then the killing really began.

The two ANBU moved among the thugs with fluid, ridiculous, hideous, ease. They were wolves feasting on confused and disoriented foxes, not a contest at all.

Blood splashed and sprayed, covering Yuugao's face and staining the pretty clothes of her disguise as she opened throats and veins with the savage little tanto she'd acquired. The warm, slick red soothed her temper and made her feel utterly disgusted, but there was no time to think, not until the task was done.

It was all over in a few moments and Yuugao's hand came off the blade as she plunged it into the back of the final thug, all her feelings surging in chaos; her body sticky and stained.

Her companions feelings were obvious more simplified and focused and they burned through his face. Anger and disgust in equal parts, and all directed at Yuugao.

"Gods and demons Yuugao!" he shouted. "What was that?"

"I…I…" Yuugao stumbled, her thoughts completely disordered, her mind unfocused. "It just…he just…" she sighed, there was no reasonable explanation she could give, that much was obvious even as voices warred in her brain and demanded attention. "I have no excuse," she said at last.

Seeing through a red haze Yuugao could tell this answer was not enough to satisfy her fellow ninja, but he seemed to recognize no greater answer would be forthcoming for now. In this gruesome scene nothing remained. The ninja took several deep breaths and spoke again. "Alright, worry about it later. For now, mission complete, the target's dead," he proclaimed. "Now we need to torch this place to hide the evidence and sneak out of here until we can get the blood off. So let's get to work."

Yuugao nodded and the two ANBU set to the task of moving bodies about and laying tinder and oils to create a conflagration. The work was grim and horrid, creating a deep seated foulness throughout the body that the battle's red coat only exacerbated, but it could not be avoided. Indeed, in some way Yuugao relished this visceral agony, for it distracted her from the internal woes and turmoil, but only imperfectly. Always they lay only a single idle thought beneath the focus of the present, the horrid cause and pain she could not escape.

The work was soon done and the ninja retreated under the cover of flickering flames, slipping away to dunk their bodies into a river and thence return to the path home.

As they walked back there was silence between the two ANBU, each keeping the darkness of the day to themselves. Yuugao struggled to keep her mind only on walking to not dwell on the many dead who warred for her attention, including the one face that would never go away, for it was the one she longed to see more than anything else, and yet dreaded most of all.

Only once did her companion speak during that journey. "The reasons don't really matter to me Yuugao, but once the report's in you're going to have to answer to Tsunade," he told her. "So you'd better sort yourself out, understand."

She had simply nodded, having nothing to say. There were no answers. Yuugao had always believed she was all right, healthy. She had grieved, she had gained her measure of vengeance and closure, she had done all the things she was supposed to do, and yet somehow the past would not leave her alone. Just as he had been the trigger in life, now the ghost of Gekkou Hayate was her trigger in death, and she could not find a way past it.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself? Anything?" Tsunade was not shouting, probably, but her voice was loud enough to match the shout of many people.

The Hokage was on her feet, never a good sign, and had Yuugao pinned with a baleful, wrathful stare.

Yuugao did not wince or flinch as some weak-kneed genin might. She stood firm and unmoving. Tsunade's anger was a fearsome thing indeed, but it seemed to role over Yuugao as if she was not there. It was a new experience, and not a pleasant one, but there was little the Hokage could do in this situation to impress the ANBU captain. She was only too well aware of her own fault now.

"I have no excuse, Hokage, sir," Yuugao repeated the explanation she had given her fellow ANBU member, and recalled the scent of blood even now. "I failed to maintain my composure and restraint and allowed emotion to overwhelm me and jeopardize the mission and create highly unnecessary casualties. There is nothing more to say." There was not after all, Tsunade could say nothing with more power than the memory of the bloody bodies of the thugs and the red stains on Yuugao's hands. It was not within the power of another to make her despise her own actions further.

Tsunade, shaking her head slowly, sank into her chair. She put her right hand to her forehead and sighed. "You do realize there needs to be something, don't you?"

"I don't understand," Yuugao answered, and she did not really get the meaning of that statement.

"Do you want to be suspended? Forcibly retired maybe?" anger and power crept back into Tsunade's mighty voice. "This is the most severe incident but it's not the first one Yuugao. You've been erratic since before I even came back. Your 'failures to maintain composure' are hardly isolated." Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "So give me something to work with here."

"You already know my personal situation, sir," Yuugao answered, knowing this to be true. There was no need to give an explanation again.

"Of course I do," Tsunade snapped. "But that's not good enough!" She slammed her fist into the desk, causing a sizeable dent in the wood. "Tsk," Tsunade looked at the unfortunate piece of furniture. "We all have suffered from recent events. Sure, you lost your lover, but there's hardly a ninja in this village that doesn't have dead friends or family. I expected better of you. You're ANBU Yuugao! You should be the last ninja with these kinds of problems."

There is was again, the base fact. Hayate was gone. It was a simple thing, but somehow Yuugao found it impossible to face. She should be able to, she had lost friends before, but somehow it seemed that her whole life had fractured in that moment. She had tried to put the pieces back together, but it just wasn't working. "You are quite correct," she answered bitterly, letting her own anger show. "I should be able to deal with it. I thought I had dealt with it, but apparently that is not the case. What kind of excuse do you want?"

"Alright, alright, enough!" Tsunade crossed her hands together before her face. "The simple fact is you are unstable Yuugao. You're not able to fulfill the requirements of your current missions, to act as an ANBU must without incurring too great a risk. I can not allow another bloodbath like the one yesterday. So, what do you suggest I do with you?"

Yuugao wondered if Tsunade really wanted her to offer an answer. After a moment she recognized that she probably did. "Well, sir, I suppose you could suspend me, but Konoha cannot spare any ninja right now, no matter how erratic, our loses were too great. So I don't know…" an idea suddenly occurred to Yuugao, and it seemed a reasonable one. "You could send me to my death of course. I'm sure you have a suitable mission where I could die gloriously and still accomplish something for the village."

"Hmm…you still think like an ANBU when someone forces you I see," Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "But I won't send you off to die, at least, not unless you do something stupid." She shrugged slightly. "I will, however, get you out of Konoha. I don't want you associated with the Leaf right now Yuugao, you're too dangerous to yourself and others. Besides, maybe a change of scenery will help."

This was unexpected, and the ANBU kunoichi stood silent for a long moment. "You are…sending me away?" she asked at last. It was a foreign thought, she had lived her whole life in Konoha, only leaving for missions, and she had rarely traveled very far during the whole twenty-two years of her life, and never by herself.

"Yes," Tsunade's answer was absolute. "I have a mission that will work for this purpose," she reached into her desk and pulled out a thin folder. "Here," she handed it over to Yuugao, who walked forward stiffly to take the file. The ANBU ninja did not yet even glance at it.

"The gist of this is simple," Tsunade explained. "There's a man the village would like to disappear," Tsunade used the obfuscating term, Yuugao, like all the ANBU, had already learned that their new Hokage hated dealing directly with assassinations. "He's gone to ground somewhere in Rain country. Go and coordinate with the Rain ninja to track him down."

"Coordinate with the Rain ninja?" Yuugao couldn't keep the surprise from leaching into her voice. Rain was nominally Leaf's ally, but not a strong one, and ANBU never coordinated with any outsiders.

"You'll go as an ordinary ninja, not ANBU," Tsunade explained flatly. "You're not serving on any ANBU assignments until I chose to allow it. I wouldn't have you coordinate except we've already tried to find this man and failed several times. It's all but impossible to find anything it that jungle it seems," Tsunade shrugged again. "Especially if you're trying to hide from the rain ninja at the same time."

"I understand," Yuugao replied, though she wasn't happy. Coordinate with foreigners? It was ridiculous. She could have done this herself, without a doubt.

"Good," Tsunade directed. "Leave tomorrow morning. Make sure you re-familiarize yourself with Hidden Rain's data before you leave."

"Of course Hokage, sir," Yuugao saluted, though her heart was not in it. She didn't want this mission, didn't want to be sent off into some sort of temporary exile because of her failures. It was not that punishment was not deserved, there was indeed no defense for her failure, but this, this was not right, it was too different. Despite this inner vacillation, there was nothing to be done but agree. No ANBU could refuse a mission from the Hokage. Deep down Yuugao tried to foster some tiny hope. Perhaps Tsunade was right, perhaps it would be good to leave Konoha for a while, to leave the legacy of battle behind and go to a place where no one knew her or her circumstances. She was far from convinced, but she tried to foster the little spark of hope, for otherwise the endeavor was doomed from the start.

With this resolution in mind Yuugao's course changed after taking her leave of the Hokage. She headed not toward her small apartment, but further afield, to the edge of the village. The path was one she knew intimately now, but she rarely went their in the afternoon, or without bringing flowers; neither mattered at the moment. This was for the sake of the mission, for the sake of that little hope. The ninja would face her grief now, so when morning came she would walk out of the village and into the west without coming this way. It would be a clean break.

The monument was a stark thing, a simple plinth of rock in a roughly prism shape. It was dark stone, carefully balanced on a single support and adorned only with the names of the dead, nothing more. Flowers in various states of preservation clustered around the base now, for many people had come throughout the recent weeks, always observing the many lost in the pointless violence that had claimed so many lives from the great Sarutobi to Yuugao's own Hayate, to many others. Some of those flowers were likely her personal offerings, but it was no longer possible to tell.

Yuugao always saw Hayate's face when she looked at that stone, never anyone else's, even though she had known many who perished in the violence. As always she wondered why it had happened, and why she had loved him in the first place.

They had been old friends of course, had grown up together in the same neighborhood of Konoha, but the village was small, such was a common thing. She had lost track of him when she went into ninja training, had not met him again until she was fifteen, when they were both chunin. The two had worked together briefly as chunin, but she had become an ANBU member and Hayate had not and that should have been the end of it. Somehow it hadn't been. Yuugao could never say why. She had not been initially attracted to Hayate, for he was a fairly shy, unassertive person while she was the opposite. That had eventually changed. Maybe it was her failed relationships within the ANBU, maybe it was his willingness to listen to her troubles and not demand the secrets of her role, maybe it was many things, but the two had come together deeply and closely.

Neither one had ever voiced it, but Yuugao knew Hayate had been thinking about marriage, had been considering things in his careful, practical way before daring to breach the question with her or their parents. Had he asked her she was sure she would have said yes, but he had never gotten the chance.

She had not been in Konoha that night; had been on a mission in the northern Fire country. It was something she regretted terribly. Intellectually it was obviously not her fault, and there was nothing she could have done even had see been in Konoha, but somehow it seemed like a failure only to learn he was dead three days later. Yuugao simply could not reconcile herself to that fact, or to Hayate's mangled form, or never learning who had been responsible for his death. Oh, the ultimate blame could be laid squarely on Orochimaru, but it had not been his hand that did the deed, someone else had been responsible. The investigation had never been completed, the committee had simply dropped the matter following the attack, partly because it was obvious Orochimaru had orchestrated the whole thing, but Yuugao knew another, darker reason was there. They had not wanted to blame the Sand. It had been one of them; she knew that, no sound ninja used those wind techniques.

Yet the Sand must not be blamed. They were allies again, allies a wounded Konoha desperately needed, and it could never be said to be the Sand's fault. Besides, Orochimaru had been pulling their strings, had worn the face of their own Kage, they were not to blame. Yuugao understood this, but it created a dark, chilling void in her. Orochimaru was too distant from the crime, but the immediate hand was not at fault, so Hayate's death lay squarely on no one, and that wasn't enough for her. She needed a vessel for her rage, a place to pour out the resentment that lingered even now. Orochimaru's poor sound stooges had not been enough, no, not at all.

Looking at the monument, Yuugao's anger slowly dissipated and seemed foolish. She knew it was not what her lover wanted, could almost here the words he would have said. It only moved her almost to tears. "I'm so sorry," she whispered to the dark stone. "I have to go away for a time. Maybe, just maybe, I will be able to face you when I come back."

With this she slowly turned away, resisting desperately the overpowering urge to look back, to see the face lingering above that stone. She must get used to it now, being without such a reminder. In the jungles of Rain there would be no such solace.

Chapter Notes:

It is unclear whether or not Konoha has proven Baki was responsible for Hayate's death. Regardless, that information has not been shared if available, so Yuugao does not know and will never know.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – The Bleary Gates**

There are few roads through the jungles of Rain country and only one that leads east from the hidden village of rain toward the fire country. One who walks west on that road is drawn into the jungle in a most literal way, as the verdant canopy deepens with every step and the plants become thicker and thicker. Sound changes, light fades, and all becomes a dour place where the sun can barely be glimpsed deep beneath the unending wall of green and brown above.

To those unfamiliar with such a crowded landscape the jungle can be disconcerting, confusing, and alien. Gone are the unadorned tree trunks of open forests. Every inch of bark here is covered in other things, moss, lichen, and stranger plants clinging to those sturdy boles, making their living in the air. The forest floor has no thick layer of leaves, instead it is infested by rot as fungi surge to breakdown all things at a rate many times that possible in dryer lands. The air thickens and fills with moisture. Even walking reasonably soon coats the body in sweat, for little evaporates in this place.

There were signs to distinguish one unfamiliar with this landscape ruled by life, signs the skilled could read on even the most assured and capable of visitors.

With such few roads there were always eyes, though they were not posted openly.

These eyes saw the purple-haired lady who journeyed their road and they learned many things quickly. A ninja for certain, it was obvious in the step, meter, and force of her gait, never mind that she wore the uniform of Hidden Leaf openly. The one who watched considered the clothes a lesser signal, for garments could always be changed, but the special pattern of walking, the casual readiness of the ninja, was not so easily erased.

A visitor from Konoha; it was a most complex puzzle to the one who watched. High in the trees she awaited, hidden by the shadow boughs and concealed against the dark green background by her garb, the unseen wraith and silent sentinel. Rare were ninja visitors from the country of Fire to the east, the righteous ninja of the Leaf, to whom the skulkers of Rain were allies but poor friends. Why should one come now, and alone? It was a puzzle to force a decision on the one who watched.

This purple-haired ninja, a remarkable color in truth, though very obvious, walked with forceful step and strong endurance. She would reach Ame, the only destination a ninja could possibly have in this land, soon enough. Leaf ninja had the right, according to the alliance, to make such a journey unchallenged, though of course a challenge could have been offered anyway. Those treaty words had different meanings on each side of the border. No, the watcher decided, that would not be the right course. Unusual and curious this situation might be, but the truth would have to come out in Ame itself, not accosted in the forest.

At last, unmoving save for the slow turn of the eyes as she tracked the leaf ninja, the one who watched made her decision. She would shadow and watch this one, tracking through the trees above, a place this leaf ninja was not watching, as so few often did, unused to how high one could go in these places. It would be left to the checkpoint further on the road to send word ahead to Ame and the head ninja.

_Consider it a blessing mysterious one_. She directed her thoughts with a thin smile beneath her mask toward her target. _Hito Morino of the Morikeishu has your shadow_.

As her second day of travel through the jungle wore on Yuugao was still continually startled by the difference of this place. Who would have thought that two lands dominated by trees could be so different, yet it could not be denied. The forests of the Fire country were nothing like the forests of this land of Rain. Those were familiar places, long settled and managed, clean and uniform. Out beyond the edges of the thin and dirty road rested something far different, something primal and un-mastered by the hand of man. Yuugao had not yet formed a true opinion of that darkened understory. There was something frightful and hostile about it, but also a strange seed of sensation drawing her toward it. Was it simply the exotic experience, or something more? She could not conclude anything at this stage, but Yuugao found it suitably distracting. She was grateful for that much, and dared to hope this place might give her what she needed. The separation was stark for certain, and if separation could heal her than this cool and tepid country might be the best of places for it; perhaps.

The road was mostly empty, leaving Yuugao alone with her thoughts. That was not a comforting state of affairs, for her thoughts were filled with grief and regret. She tried to focus on the jungle, or to go over in her mind the information on Hidden Rain she had read hurriedly before leaving Konoha, but it was difficult. Hayate's face resided always just a tiny dip below the surface of her mind.

Limited merchant traffic on the roads, apparently most trade went north to the Earth country at this time of year, and few idle travelers robbed Yuugao of company. She could understand why this road was mostly empty; the roads through the Grass country to the north were much easier and swifter. Though the jungles of Rain lay between many lands few traveled them willingly, preferring to use this land as a barrier instead. Such things supposed suited the Rain ninja very well.

Those travelers who were present avoided Yuugao and would not speak to her. Hardly surprising, but it was isolating. She was a foreign ninja after all, and people would want nothing to do with such a person. Aside from the two rain ninja at the checkpoint yesterday, who had asked a few brief questions and then waved her on, the leaf kunoichi had not spoken to anyone since entering Ame. The forest about her was most quiet as well, with few sounds beneath the greater trees or penetrating from the upper canopy high above. She began to dislike the quiet, and wished for the vibrancy of Konoha. Ame, which she should reach shortly before evening, could not come soon enough for her.

The jungle only grew deeper the closer one went to hidden rain, becoming wetter and darker. The trees grew to mammoth size here, and their branches so thick it was impossible to see to the top of any tree any more. Thick grew the vegetation, vines and brambles of a very pale green, starved for light but struggling on even so, filling the air with life in three dimensions. The air grew brutally thick, and filled with strange scents and vapors. Yuugao forced herself to maintain regular breathing, knowing she must get used to this and there was no time to waste.

Approach to Ame was signaled by a descent in the road as it passed into a great bowl in the landscape. The trees grew even taller, if that was possible, Yuugao suspected they might reach well over a hundred meters above the floor, something she had never seen before, for nothing in the Fire country came even close. There was majesty to such incredible size, age and power seemed to radiate off these trees in a manner not possessed by other, lesser, plants.

Water dripped down constantly from the canopy high above, a steady drip flowing constantly continuing even as it hit the ground. Yuugao knew a lake rested at the bottom of this strange bowl in the land, beneath the village of hidden rain. She could not avoid slowly becoming soaked by this water, the whole air seemed saturated with it.

The road turned a corner, a rarity on its mostly straight path, and the hidden village suddenly emerged.

Yuugao drew in a small gasp in spite of herself.

The hidden village of rain did not reside on the ground but hung in the trees, built upon platforms or carved into great trunks. Hanging bridges of planks and rope lay strung throughout a three-dimensional maze, terrifically confusing to the mind at first glimpse. The ground beneath the great trees was marshy and confusing, it was immediately clear that it would not be easy to walk. The road continued on through the village, but on a boardwalk of great logs laid there. This was an innovative defensive measure and Yuugao began to admire the cunning of the rain ninja in creating this strange and maddening place. To attack such a place would be terribly hard, with many false routes and traps of vegetation lying all about and a maze-like system of conduits that could be changed or removed with great rapidity. _A dangerous place this_, Yuugao decided.

A single ninja waited at the edge of that boardwalk, looking clearly bored with his posting. Looking at him Yuugao thought this youth awfully young, probably only a genin, and concluded that their must be other guards in hidden places above, behind blinds or other masking devices. Taking a quick glance she spotted one or two candidate locations, but nothing more. This, more than anything, made her realize her lack of experience with this environment.

When Yuugao continued on, her initial visual inspection of the village complete, the genin guard stopped her. "If you are passing through Konoha-nin, you must take the road," he explained. "But if you have business in the village I shall direct you."

His speech was formal, but fairly courteous even so. Yuugao knew there was suspicion behind it, but there was nothing to be done about it. She didn't have many kind words for the Rain ninja either so it was presumably fair enough. "I have business in the village," the leaf kunoichi replied. "I shall need to speak with your head ninja first."

"Um, right," the genin nodded anxiously, recognizing quickly that Yuugao obviously outranked him and trying to be careful. "Follow the spiral stair up the tree to your right first," he gestured and Yuugao nodded when she saw the narrow creeping staircase that wrapped around one of the great trees. "When you get to the third landing," the genin continued. "There will be several bridges. Take the northwest one, um, its direction is the same as the road behind me." Yuugao grimaced; it was clearly going to be necessary to keep her wits about her if even such simple destinations as the headquarters of the village required complex directions. It would not do to become lost in a foreign village. "That bridge will lead to another intersection of bridges; take the one on the far right. The office is in a bole in one of the great trees." He reached up and pointed unerringly through the gloom to a spot in the distance.

"I see," Yuugao replied, and moved to hurry on her way before forgetting any part of the instructions.

It actually did not turn out to be that difficult to follow the indicated path, but it was obvious to Yuugao that directions would be necessary to get to any specific location for some time, perhaps as long as she was in hidden rain.

The great, knotted tree bole that contained the head ninja's office was roughly fifteen meters above ground, so the leaf kunoichi's best estimate indicated. A door crafted not of wood or metal, but of water, formed the entry to this place. A pair of guards flanked the sole opening in the howled trunk of the tree. Those guards stood at the edge of a stream of water channeled down from above through a clearly ingenious system of gutters and channels, so a slow waterfall continually crossed the portal and anyone who traversed it would perforce get wet. Strangely the guards stood within the boundaries of that water, not beyond it, so they must surely spend their entire watch soaking and cold. It made no sense to Yuugao, but served as a true caution, striking her sharp and deep with the realization of how far she was from home.

"You are expected," one of the guards told her. "Hurry up." His voice was gruff and unwelcoming, as the eyes of all who walked about in this village had been. Neither ninja nor citizen desired her presence here.

Yuugao nodded in answer, and stepped through, accepting the cold caress of the water.

Blinking free of the liquid's control Yuugao found herself in a large open hollow, carved out from the trunk of the mighty tree. The room was dim, illuminated by only a few simple and weak lamps. Few decorations were present, nothing but a few rugs thrown across the floor, clearly used to absorb the damp rather than provide any true welcoming presence. Only a single chair accompanied by a small table occupied this apparently spartan place.

Or so it seemed until Yuugao's gaze happened to turn upward. The ceiling was anything but simple. The strange sculpture of lines and shades was confusing at first, though clearly masterful. It took a flash of recognition for the kunoichi to realize what the ceiling contained, one in each half of the sphere. These were maps. Fully three-dimensional in relief they hung up there, frightfully detailed and expertly crafted, beautiful as murals in their way, but far more useful. The hidden village in all its myriad complexity and the Rain country in flowing contour resided there, most potent resources to have at one's disposal.

The maps were also a distraction of the first caliber. They stole the breath of visitor's even ones as aware as Yuugao, leaving her to completely miss the occupant of that one simple chair, ceding time and awareness, and thereby losing the first clash of the subsequent conversation before it had even begun. Until when the chair's resident spoke did the leaf ninja recognize that she'd been deceived.

"Welcome, Uzuki Yuugao, to the Hidden Village of Rain."

Chapter Notes:

Hito Morino: this name is something of a play on words. Rearranged it reads Mori no Hito, meaning 'Person of the Forest.' This is partly a tribute to uKino's Journey/u where the lead character had a small automatic pistol by that name.

Morikeishu: roughly 'Forest Guard'

The layout of Hidden Rain, and the maps on the ceiling of the headquarters, are repeated from uForged in Water/u but this look at the village will be rather more thorough.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – The Rainwitch**

The voice snapped Yuugao's head around. The words were courteous, formal, and welcoming, but that voice was not. It was sharp, disjointed, a voice that wielded every syllable with care as if each was a kunai hurled at the foe.

This pointed voice's origin was the room's only chair. The dim light threw shadows and concealed the small chair, and the person seated there was not large, and she sat with her legs and arms curled in, projecting nothing.

The appearance was not what she expected, and Yuugao immediately wondered if the photos she had examined had been doctored, or perhaps even belonged to a double, for this woman did not look at all how she would imagine Suwa Shiori, the head ninja of Hidden Rain, would appear. There was no presence to this small woman, nothing standout at all. Her face was very plain so that even its features, sharp eyes, thin eyebrows, and high cheekbones, were difficult to discern. The leaf kunoichi considered that Shiori possessed components that might have created beauty, if rearranged, but in this woman appeared merely matronly and forgettable.

Nevertheless, Yuugao did not allow this unexpected appearance to distract her. "How do you know who I am?" she demanded fiercely of the rain ninja.

"You are wondering why I did not use the false name you gave to my checkpoint guards?" Shiori sounded slightly amused to Yuugao's reckoning, but her amusement was catlike, predatory.

Watching the rain head ninja speak was difficult, for her motions were incredibly subdued, her mouth barely seeming to open and close as she spoke. Yuugao found it somewhat intimidating, for who could expect to be so easily disarmed by this strange act.

"It is simple," Shiori continued, utterly confident. "I am well aware of who you are, of most of your ANBU in fact. How I know that is not your business, suffice that I do."

"Why reveal this then?" Yuugao was no schemer, she always preferred direct and physical tasks, but even she could recognize that Shiori should not so easily reveal this knowledge.

"Ah, good, you are not completely witless I see, how promising," the head ninja's left hand spun slightly through the air. "Why indeed? It is a simple enough answer," a cruel smile, backed by a foul glare, lit that plain face. "Because you are in my clutches now, and I want you to understand the implications fully."

"I am here to cooperate on a mission with you!" Yuugao replied indignantly. "You don't have the power to give me orders!"

"I don't?" the slightest of brief laughs escaped those lips. "I think you are mistaken there. You see, Yuugao, your true purpose here is not any mission. Konoha cannot afford send you away right now for such a simplistic task, oh no."

"How do you know?" Yuugao blurted, realizing it was foolish, a great mistake, the moment after words had left her mouth. Looking into Shiori's eyes in the next moment, however, it was brutally obvious it hadn't mattered. The woman knew, had already known. "How…" she spoke irrationally, a cold knot taking hold in her stomach.

"How do I know?" Shiori appeared to consider, spinning her left hand slowly through empty space. "Yes…maybe it would do to tell you, to establish some clarity. Listen well then," she began and her tone changed, smoothing, beginning to lecture. "I had my suspicions from the start of course. There were Rain ninja in Konoha for the exam, even if none of mine had managed to reach the final round. A shame really that, otherwise I would have been present, it might have aided both sides. Regardless those ninja were interrogated rather seriously when they returned about many things, including people they had seen before the attack who they didn't see afterwards. I got a pretty solid picture that things had been far more serious than you all put out. So I looked into it more deeply, and began to get a decent picture, but the real trick was something you all did to yourselves."

"What?" Yuugao could not believe that, every possible step had been taken to hide Konoha's weakness, even from supposed allies like the Rain.

"Oh, it's very simple, Tsunade made a mistake. It's not really her fault I suppose; she hasn't been living the ninja life for years and has no political experience. She wasn't ready to be thrown to the wolves." Shiori smiled again. "It was the boy from Suna, the one named Gaara."

Hearing those words Yuugao began to understand, and it suddenly seemed blindingly obvious, a huge mistake she could not believe her village had made. The kunoichi's head dipped in disbelief and shame.

"Indeed," Shiori piled onto the regret. "Did you all think he as not being watched? We have known Suna had sealed Shukaku in a child for years, and when a giant tanuki formed of sand fought outside Konoha and was observed by hundreds all the pieces fell into place. The Kazekage was quite the man I must say, to do that to his own son. So, Tsunade calls on this boy to help track down one negligent little missing-nin and it becomes very clear just how desperate you all are. It's not just me you know, I think everyone knows."

"But then why hasn't Iwa…" Yuugao muttered, feeling the full power of this realization sink in.

"Who knows?" Shiori gave the tiniest of shrugs. "I can't read the Tsuchikage's mind, more's the pity. Anyway, it hardly concerns you now, since you are here, not in Konoha."

Yuugao stood in careful silence for a long time. She was feeling cut loose, imperiled. This was not what she had expected. Konoha's files had said that Suwa Shiori was a talented politician and something of an opportunist, but she could see now that they had underestimated this woman, more, that the head ninja of Hidden Rain had manipulated Konoha into underestimating her. _She is playing a deep game, one far deeper than I can even see_, Yuugao recognized and was suddenly afraid. "Why have you told me all this?" the ANBU kunoichi asked at last.

"To give you a sense of your situation," Shiori replied evenly. "You must be made to recognize that while in Hidden Rain you will serve my will, no matter your desires. Otherwise you are of no use to me."

"And if I refuse to be you puppet?" Yuugao retorted.

"You will not be my puppet," Shiori admonished. "Not at all. You have come with a mission and indeed it will be attempted. Konoha may benefit after all, who knows, but you must realize you do not have authority here. If you desire this mission to come to pass, then you will perform it in the service of hidden rain. It shall be service alongside my ninja and taking their orders, for this is not your place, but mine."

"And if I refuse?" Yuugao suspected the answer, but she dared the response anyway.

"Then you will die," Shiori said the words with an utterly disarming casualness. "You have walked here, you have seen this place. The jungle provides me an endless supply of excuses to end the lives of whose death must never be known in truth and whose bodies must never be found. Ultimately in Rain there is a single choice. You can learn to live with the jungle or it will swallow you up. That is just as true as for me as it is for you."

ANBU were not accustomed to being threatened. They were highly skilled ninja, even the very best did not take them lightly, and they served the Hokage personally so killing one was not without consequence. Yuugao weighed this against Shiori's words and realized the rain woman had considered all these things and was still supreme in her confidence. The leaf kunoichi also knew that she must accept this situation, anything else was pointless. Even if Shiori did not have her killed she could simply ship her back to Konoha with a refusal. Such a thing would push the alliance, but Konoha was in no position to complain. To be returned would be a failure. Not something acceptable at present.

"So what happens now then?" Yuugao asked Shiori.

"I wonder," the head ninja of Rain mused. "What exactly is your mission?"

It was a disarming question, and Yuugao was surprised to recognize that, even knowing so many secrets as she did, Shiori did not know the specifics of her little mission. It was amazing to the kunoichi that this rain ninja had acted as she had not knowing that, an incredible act of confidence. Yuugao knew she could not have acted in such a way. "Well," Yuugao answered. "It is fairly simple, just getting rid of someone."

"Hmm…" Shiori smiled. "I should have guessed, that is what you ANBU do after all, assassinate people. So, someone Konoha wants to die is hiding out in our jungle is it? Tsunade sent you here because you've failed to find him."

Yuugao nodded, once more impressed.

"Don't feel bad," Shiori flicked her hand to the side a bit, dismissive. "If you can survive out in the jungle it is indeed a very good place to hide. We are usually lucky in that few have such capability, but sometimes it does occur. Who is this man then?"

"Toyimoto Banten, a monk who fled from the fire temple for heretical practices and selling sutras on the black market," Yuugao explained.

"Reasonable enough," Shiori replied. "But if that's all why not just put a bounty out? We would have taken care of it ourselves eventually."

Yuugao smiled a bit of her own now. She had expected it would not be possible to fool the head ninja, but had at least made the attempt. "He was a fuuinjutsu trainer for us at one point."

"Ah, well, that clears that up," Shiori smiled. "Obviously you'd want to keep quiet about who knows what. Understandable indeed," she paused, closing her eyes for a very short moment. "Very well, it is no problem to silence such a man. I would rather capture him but I can do Tsunade a favor this once. Besides, it is never easy to have prisoners hauled through the jungle. Do you have any further clues beyond simply being found within our borders?"

"There are tracking reports in the file, from our previous attempts to find him," Yuugao answered carefully. "But when I examined them I found little that was helpful, of course I do not have your ninja's familiarity with the terrain." She glanced up at the maps on the ceiling.

"Hmm…" Shiori smiled slightly. "This may be rather involved then. I trust you are not functioning under some kind of time limit here?"

Yuugao, knowing she was effectively exiled from Konoha until such time as she could manage her emotions properly, shook her head. "However long it takes I shall remain."

"Very good then," Shiori's voice changed once more, taking on a tone of command for the first time. "I will give your case to the direction of Kaikashu Yori. You will work under his command to complete this task. You may go see him immediately; one of my guards will direct you to his office. He'll still be there, he works late." The head ninja gestured to the gloom beyond her watery door, indicating that early and deep darkness of the jungle night had started to fall. "You are dismissed Uzuki Yuugao."

"Yes sir," Yuugao bowed carefully and turned about smartly. Her feelings mixed and confused as she tried to digest the whole meeting. As she walked through the cold watery gateway once more she felt a growing sense of irritation and anger at the situation. The Rain ninja was using her, manipulating her, and she had not been able to stop it. Oh, surely much of the cause was not her own actions, but Yuugao felt affronted. She was now stuck being Rain's minion, and she did not like that. _Whatever the circumstances I am still a ninja of Konoha!_ She raged inwardly. Shiori might be outside her reach to oppose, but the ANBU ninja resolved she would not let this lesser office to which she had been assigned push her around so easily.

After Yuugao had gone Shiori slowly stood up from her chair, stretching her tight muscles. She had always found that sitting curled up into a ball threw people off, confused them, and it had worked once more, but it was a recipe for instant muscle soreness afterwards.

As Shiori stretched out a hidden panel opened in the back wall of the chamber and another person joined the head ninja.

"A strange one we've been given," this newcomer commented. "You're taking a big risk with her."

"I know, sister," Shiori replied, turning to face her younger sibling Shioko. She shook her head as she did so. "How do you manage to look so good after being squeezed in there? Maybe I should have let you sit in the chair."

Shioko laughed, but gently, and Shiori knew she was being conscious of her elder sister's feelings. There was a contrast between the two of them, for though they resembled each other and shared the same sharp facial features Shioko was beautifully imperious while Shiori was plain. Slight differences in the structure of their face and Shioko's greater height and long flowing hair created the great contrast. Many people seeing the sisters together often erroneously guessed it was Shioko who was Hidden Rain's head ninja.

It was not something to feel jealousy over, and Shiori never had. Appearance was a weapon, and her plain and un-presupposing visage had uses just as vast as any beauty. She loved and trusted Shioko, and desired her sister's council now. Shioko was no political operative, but she had a native sense for people, and besides, unlike most of Shiori's aides, knew the true implications of the decision just made.

"I could never sit in that chair Shiori," Shioko admonished. "I'd be cursed, don't you remember, anyone who usurps the seat of the rightful head of Ame suffers from it."

Now it was Shiori who laughed, recalling that ploy, an amazingly useful contrivance from years ago. "I suppose that's true. Anyway, what do you make of our visitor?"

"She is difficult to gauge," Shioko began cautiously. "Obviously she has skill, as expected from one of the ANBU. There is force to her nature as well, the aggressiveness many of us kunoichi acquire as we fight up in rank, but something is not right with her."

"Indeed," Shiori nodded. "Tsunade did not send her here to have a man killed. I did not put the question of why to her because it is obviously some kind of disciplinary action, and she would never give a satisfactory answer to the cause, not formally. What do you think Shioko?"

"It's grief, sister," Shioko did not hesitate. "It must be that, the source of the turmoil, given what happened, it is hardly surprising."

"Yes, well, a soul in turmoil is vulnerable to influence don't you think?" Shiori smiled cunningly.

"A dangerous game sister, she is ANBU, and besides, you never know which way a ninja will move when pressed," Shioko waited a moment, and then forged ahead with a question. "Why Yori? Why give away that secret?"

"Because she is ANBU," Shiori replied. "You are right that this is dangerous, but in order to gain something from this ANBU, to make the most of this situation I must risk much. Yori is loyal, I trust him, and he can handle one such as this I believe, I don't know who else could. Besides, this way we will isolate her from the rest of the village. If push comes to shove I did not make that threat idly. The jungle can easily hide another body."

"Well, I suppose what's done is done then," Shioko concluded.

"Yes, the piece is placed and for the rest I must leave it in Yori's hands," Shiori nodded. "Still, look in on our guest from time to time, sister. I should not like to leave her with only the Morikeishu to talk too."

"Um…yes," Shioko giggled slightly. "I'll make sure to do that."

"Well then, Uzuki Yuugao," Shiori spoke softly, her voice trailing away. "Let us see what shall come of this guest from the sunny leaves cast into our shadowed boles. The eyes of the rain shall be watching."

Chapter Notes:

Shiori and Shioko have awfully similar names, yes, because they are from a fairly important clan and this is a traditional practice. The Hyuga of the Leaf have a similar tradition (Hiashi and Hizashi, Hinata and Hanabi).

Suwa Shiori also appeared as the head ninja of Hidden Rain in Forged in Water. I'm building off the bits I used there.


End file.
